Maja Ruznic, a prolific and active artist, is primarily a painter, a storyteller who conjures form and narrative from ground up mineral, smeared oil, and stained canvas. Born in Bosnia and Hercegovina in 1983, Ruznic immigrated to the United States with her family in 1995, settling on the West Coast where she eventually went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley, later receiving an MFA from the California College of Arts. Ruznic’s often-quoted biography – a refugee who escaped the Bosnian War – is only the beginning of her journey. Ruznic’s vivid paintings speak for themselves, depicting figures that seem to emerge from the caverns of human history, from within their own supports, and somehow from within the viewer’s own recollections. These paintings breach something intrinsically human and Ruznic guides us deftly with dark humor and complex representations, not dissimilar to Werner Herzog’s wry, but poignant 3-D documentary depicting the oldest painted images in the world. Ruznic has exhibited internationally and her work has been written about extensively, most notably in ArtMaze Magazine, Juxtapoz, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Studio Visit Magazine, and twice in New American Paintings, including the cover as selected by curator Anne Ellegood.  In 2018, Ruznic was a recipient of the Hopper Prize and in 2019, Ruznic’s painting “Azmira’s Daughters” was acquired by the Dallas Museum of Art. Ruznic is represented by Conduit, Hales and Karma.

LINKS:

Karma Gallery in NY https://karmakarma.org/

Hales Gallery in NY https://www.halesgallery.com/

London Gallery

https://conduitgallery.com/

https://www.ontheedgeofreason.com/

Teacher- Rajkamal Kahlon https://www.rajkamalkahlon.com/

 @yaqup_oxbjr

@jiakobsteen

Keiko Narahashi nsta: @keiko_nara_hashi

https://joshuahagler.com/

Cathy Wilkes https://www.xavierhufkens.com/artists/cathy-wilkes